ABP, Air Products working on UK’s first large-scale green hydrogen facility

Associated British Ports (ABP) and industrial gases company Air Products have joined forces to bring the first large-scale green hydrogen facility to the Port of Immingham in the Humber, UK.

The facility would import green ammonia from production locations operated by Air Products and its partners around the world. This would be used to produce green hydrogen, aiming to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors such as transport and industry.

ABP plans to invest in new infrastructure with a new jetty to service the import and export handling of liquid bulk products. In addition to handling green ammonia, the jetty is being designed so that it can accommodate other cargoes connected to the energy transition, including the import of liquified carbon dioxide (CO₂) from carbon capture and storage projects for sequestration in the North Sea.

“Globally Air Products supports the energy transition by developing real, first-mover projects. We are forging sustainable hydrogen supply chains with our partners and using our hydrogen knowledge and expertise to accelerate the energy transition,” commented Ivo Bols, Air Products’ President, Europe and Africa.

“We are in positive talks with government ministers and officials about our plans to invest in UK green hydrogen. To enable our investment decision, we are seeking some policy assurances that a viable market will exist for our product.”

The UK Government has plans for 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen to be in production or construction by 2030. Currently, there is no significant domestic production of such hydrogen in the UK.

ABP is investigating the potential to develop a low carbon hydrogen supply to the Port of Immingham together with its project partners Uniper, Siemens Energy, and Toyota Tsusho. The partners submitted a joint bid to develop a low carbon hydrogen supply in June this year.

The project aims to develop a scalable decarbonisation solution within the port, which, if successful, would be replicable in other ports. There is the potential for green hydrogen to be produced by electrolysis, using a renewable energy supply such as offshore wind. The ambition is to develop c. 20MW green hydrogen production for use at the port as a direct replacement to diesel and heavy fuel oil, or for the production of clean shipping fuels.

The Humber region is producing the largest amount of the UK’s carbon and is looking to capitalize on the Zero Carbon agenda, a strategy that sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy by 2050.

To pursue the agenda industry majors including British Steel, Drax, Equinor, PX Group, Centrica and Uniper have come together under the Zero Carbon Humber project to transform the Humber into the UK’s first net zero carbon cluster by 2040. The project targets the development of a shared trans-regional pipeline out to the North Sea for low-carbon hydrogen and for capturing and storing carbon emissions.

“ABP and the Humber are at the epicentre of the decarbonisation agenda and we are delighted to work with Air Products on this project, which will help deliver the UK’s legal obligation to be net zero by 2050,” Henrik L. Pedersen, ABP’s Chief Executive Officer, commented.

“ABP’s ports are a vital part of the UK’s energy transition, and we are making significant investments to support a range of renewable energy generation projects, including the expansion of Green Port Hull and the transformation of Port Talbot to help deliver the UK’s ambition for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.”

The latest project is expected to eliminate up to 580,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year, the equivalent of taking 20,000 diesel HGVs off UK roads, as well as reducing nitrous oxide and particulate emissions.